Texans’ C.J. Stroud has friendly rivalry with Cowboys star Micah Parsons

HOUSTON – Their friendship, and fun rivalry doesn’t have boundaries.

Whether it’s a celebrity basketball game during the NBA all-star weekend during which a boisterous Micah Parsons played more physical than anyone else, trading barbs on a podcast or arguing about who’s the better sumo wrestler or baseball player during a football ambassador trip to Asia with stops in Shanghai and Beijing, Texans quarterback CJ Stroud and the Dallas Cowboys' star linebacker love to compete against each other.

They’ll meet in the NFL for the first time Monday night when the Texans travel to AT&T Stadium for a primetime game.

“To me, he is definitely a brother of mine and it reminds me of my relationship with my brothers growing up,” said Stroud, whose biological brothers are named Asmar and Isaiah. “Always messing with each other, always trying to one-up one another. I have that relationship with my friends back home, too. I had my buddy there. He had his friend who came from home. We all just had a brotherhood when we left. All that stuff is fun, but we will both be locked in and ready to win on Monday and ready to do our jobs to get a victory.”

Parsons is a formidable opponent. In his first game back from a high ankle sprain that sidelined him for four games, he had two sacks and four pressures in a blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Parsons has run the 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds at 6-foot-3, 245 pounds. He’s already been named first-team All-Pro twice, to the Pro Bowl three times and has 43 1/2 career sacks, 54 tackles for losses and eight forced fumbles. He had a career-high 14 sacks last season.

The Cowboys line him up all over the field to hit the right angles and create confusion. What isn’t to be confused: Parsons is a mega factor and scheme resistant. He’s one of the best defensive players in the NFC East since New York Giants Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor was harassing quarterbacks into a state of fear.

“Going against Dallas’ defense, Micah’s an exceptional player,” said Texans coach DeMeco Ryans, a two-time Pro Bowl linebacker and a fellow NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year like Parsons. “He plays with a relentless motor. He moves all over the place. He aligns on the edge, in the A gap, he’s all over the place. And he’s all over the field. He’s an impact player for them, so we have to have high awareness for where he is at all times and try to do a great job of stopping him.”

Stroud is eager to compete with his former Big Ten Conference rival. Parsons was a consensus All-American, Big Ten Linebacker of the Year and Cotton Bowl Most Valuable Player who was drafted in the first round.

Stroud led the Texans to a division title and one playoff victory as a rookie and joined Tom Brady and Joe Montana as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to lead the NFL in passing yards per game and touchdown-to-interception ratio.

The Texans have lost their last two games and three of four contests since a 5-1 start. The Cowboys are on a four-game losing streak and quarterback Dak Prescott is out for the season with a pulled hamstring that required surgery.

The conversations haven’t started yet between Stroud and Parsons. They’ll pick up before kickoff, though.

“I haven’t talked to him, I will probably talk to him pregame,” Stroud said. “But I am super happy for him, he is back playing. I was praying for him. He reached out to me a couple of weeks back. He will be one of my great friends for a long time. This will hopefully, be one of many matchups. I wish him the best and I always wish him the best.”

Whether it’s eating, playing basketball or video games, it’s always a competition between Stroud and Parsons. And there’s a singular focus

“It is about our team versus his team,” Stroud said. “We want to be the leaders of our teams that leads us to victory. That is what I plan to do. All that stuff is fun, but we will both be locked in and ready to win on Monday and ready to do our jobs to get a victory.

“You can tell they have been dinged up a little bit. Micah was a big part of that. His presence was felt against the Eagles last week.”

When the Texans line up across from Parsons, they have to account for his disruptive pass rushing presence just like opponents do when Pro Bowl defensive end Will Anderson Jr. is on the field.

“He is relentless,” Stroud said. “He is what I see in Will and what I see in those guys on the sideline, and I am like, ‘Man, I am glad I am not on the other team’. He is that guy where you have to be like, ‘We’ve got to do something for this dude.’ He is definitely talented, and I think he has a motor where I think he won’t stop and he is like that in everything he does.

“I love it. It is something that a lot of great people that I have been around from artists to players, to different sports, anything that I have been around that has been great that is how they are in everything. They don’t want to lose and that is motivating to me to be better. Any little thing that I do, if that is tying my shoe, playing basketball, I am doing it for the Lord and I am doing it to win.”

Aaron Wilson is a contributor to Sports Talk 790.